History VideoGame / HiddenCity

* BrokenPedestal: Despite being Mr. Black's most trusted subordinate, Kira has grown disillusioned by her superior's often extreme (but not always effective} decisions in handling the fog crisis, his inability to let go of his prejudices and his constant refusal to listen to others. This drives her to work with the scavengers behind his back, and informing them whenever the Security Services plans to raid their hideout.

* ConsummateProfessional: Mr. Black is dedicated to ensure justice, law and order in the Upper City and has little patience for trivial sentimentalities. He does not take personal relationships and past history into account when trying to determine a person's guilt (e.g. he accuses Carlos, and later Sophia, for being involved in the theft of some anti-fog crystals despite the fact that the former is a long-time friend of Rayden, and the latter [[spoiler:is the woman he's in love with]]), and is not happy when his subordinate Kira decides to busy herself with a piece of puzzle left to her by her beloved father with because it will distract from her duties.

* DressingToDie: In the final part of the "Petrified Mystery" case, Olivia realises that the only way to restore Sophia from her petrification is to use a reverse lens on the Gorgon Camera--but this will turn her into a statue instead. She is more than willing to pay this price (partly to [[DeathEqualsRedemption redeem herself]] for petrifying her friend in the first place, and partly because she cannot stand living after having lost her talents), but to prepare for this, she asks the player's character to help her find her most beautiful dress and accessories, so that she will become a beautiful masterpiece at her petrification.

* LuckBasedMission: Invoked in-universe by Violet, who deliberately ramps up the difficulty of the board game she had trapped Mr. Black and Rayden in by requiring absurdly high numbers for the dice rolls to proceed in order to prevent her opponents from escaping. Kira actually had to rig the dice in order to win and rescue the other two.

** The "Petrified Mystery" case from the "Statues' Silent Story" event features an artifact called Gorgon's Camera that can turn anything it takes a picture of into stone, including peope. The sculptress, Olivia, uses the camera to turn her friend Sophia into a statue after arguing with her. Regretting what she's done, she reverses the camera's effects by changing the camera lens, turning herself into a statue in her friend's place.

* MysteriousParent: Clarissa Storke is Rayden's mysterious ''grand''mother who had disappeared into the Fog several years ago. While Rayden remembers her as nothing but a sweet and kindly woman, he later meets an old acquaintance of hers who reveal that [[spoiler:she was a very powerful and cruel sorceress, who abandoned her old life after marrying a [[{{Muggle}} regular person.]]

* BrokenPedestal: Despite being Mr. Black's most trusted subordinate, Kira has grown disillusioned by her superior's often extreme and not always effective decisions in handling the fog crisis, his inability to let go of his prejudices and his constant refusal to listen to others. This leads her to work with the scavengers behind his back, and informing them whenever the Security Services plans to raid their hideout.

* TheDictatorship: The Upper City is a rare, benevolent version of a military/law enforcement dictactorship. The Security Services--particularly the Head of department, Mr. Black--seems to hold all the regulatory power without having to answer to anyone. As the de facto leader of Upper City, Mr. Black imposes a harsh curfew on the area (a policy known as the Law of Black) and keeps most of the city's anti-fog crystals in the possession of the Security Services, thus allowing them to control who will be granted its protection. Of course, many people aren't happy with this rule and some have even formed a Resistance to overthrow him. Black himself is well-intentioned, and he genuinely wishes to protect the inhabitants of the City from the harmful effects of the fog. Unfotunately, his pride and stubbornness means that he rarely listens to other people's suggestions, and he expects his subordinates to follow his orders without question, even when his own decisions prove to be ineffective.

* TrappedInAnotherWorld: The Shadow City is a realm that exists on a separate plane of reality from our world, and would, from time to time, open up a portal and drag unfortunate people into the place. Many of the current residents, such as the Detective and the Conductor come from "outside" and are looking for ways to return home to their families.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The monthly events frequently introduce characters who will disappear without explanation after their story is over. Some of them are justified (e.g. Olivia from the Silent Statue's Story turns herself [[TakenForGranite turns herself into stone]] as a penance), but some of them simply stop appearing even though they should technically still be around the City (e.g. Agent Jones, Helen).

* TorturedMonster: The Psy-Werewolf are described as both terrifying and pitiful creatures. Said to be created through horrible experiments to give them psychic powers, they spend all their existence bound and muzzled.

** In the "Playing to Live" Event, Violet traps Mr. Black and Rayden [[TrappedInTVLand inside a board game]] after luring them under the pretext of peace negotiations, and it's up to Kira and Carlos to help them get out.

The player's character wakes up in the mysterious City of Shadows with no memories of himself, and is found by Juliette, who tells him that he had appeared in the City with a friend, who was subsequently kidnapped by an unknown group. So the player begins a journey to save his friend and discover more about himself.

The City itself has a lot going on in it. It is plagued by a magical fog that causes people to lose their memories and spawns grotesque monsters from time to time. An overbundance of mystery and strange magic awaits the player's charcter, who had been chosen by the City itself to become its Mystery Solver.

* TheDictatorship: The Upper City is a rare, benevolent version of a military/law enforcement dictactorship. The Security Services--particularly the Head of department, Mr. Black--seems to hold all the regulatory power without having to answer to anyone. As the de facto leader of Uppoer City, Mr. Black imposes a harsh curfew on the area (a policy known as the Law of Black) and keeps most of the city's anti-fog crystals in the possession of the Security Services, thus allowing them to control who will be granted its protection. Of course, many people aren't happy with this rule and some have even formed a Resistance to overthrow him. Black himself is well-intentioned, and he genuinely wishes to protect the inhabitants of the City from the harmful effects of the fog. Unfotunately, his pride and stubbornness means that he rarely listens to other people's suggestions, and he expects his subordinates to follow his orders without question, even when his own decisions prove to be ineffective.

* TheDictatorship: The Upper City is a rare, benevolent version of a military/law enforcement dictactorship. The Security Services--particularly the Head of department, Mr. Black--seems to hold all the regulatory power without having to answer to anyone. As the de facto leader of Uppoer City, Mr. Black imposes a harsh curfew on the area (a policy known as the Law of Black) and keeps most of the city's anti-fog crystals in the possession of the Security Services, thus allowing them to control who will be granted its protection. Of course, many people aren't happy with this rule and some have even formed a Resistance to overthrow him. Black himself is well-intentioned, and he genuinely wishes to protect the City from the fog. Unfotunately, his pride and stubbornness means that he rarely listens to other people's suggestions, and he expects his subordinates to follow his orders without question, even when his own decisions prove to be ineffective.

* SteamPunk: Compared to the Main City, the Upper City seems to have a more dated technology, with the prominence of candle lights, oil lamps and typewriters used for day-to-day activities, and steam pipes can be seen in many of the locations. The resisdents' outfits also have a distinctly Victorian Era-esque flair compared to the more modern gear that the people living in the main City areas wear. Also, unlike the Main City, the Upper City lacks the more blatantly fantastical elements such as ghosts, witches and monsters.

* TheDictatorship: The Upper City is a downplayed version of a military/law enforcement dictactorship, since the Security Services--particularly the Head of department, Mr. Black--seems to hold all the regulatory power without having to answer to anyone. As the de facto leader of Uppoer City, Mr. Black imposes a harsh curfew on the area (a policy known as the Rule of Black) and keeps most of the city's anti-fog crystals in the possession of the Security Services, thus allowing them to control who will be granted its protection. Of course, many people aren't happy with this rule and some have formed a Resistance to overthrow Black. Black himself is actually well-intentioned, and he does genuinely wish to protect the City from the fog. Unfotunately, his pride and stubbornness means that he rarely listens to other people's suggestions, and expects his subordinates to follow his orders without question, even when his own decisions prove to be ineffective.

* DressingToDie: In the final part of the "Petrified Mystery" case, Olivia realises that the only way to restore Sophia from her petrification is to use a reverse lens on the Gorgon Camera--but this will turn her into a statue instead. She is more than willing to pay this price (partly to redeem herself for petrifying her friend in the first place, and partly because she cannot stand living after having lost her talents), but to prepare for this, she asks the player's character to help her find her most beautiful dress and accessories, so that she will become a beautiful masterpiece at her petrification.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: There's currently about 100 characters introduced in the game. Granted, a lot of them are event-only characters, but they are still have unique designs, personalities and story arc,

* BrokenPedestal: Despite being Mr. Black's most trusted subordinate, Kira has grown disillusioned by her superior's often extreme and not always effective decisions in handling the fog crisis, his inability to let go of his prejudices and his constant refusal to listen to others.

* DamselInDistress:

** In the Upper City, a mysterious monster called the Dark Hunter is targeting Lucas for some reason. The player must help his sister Vera and their father Carlos find and rescue the boy.

* TheDictatorship: The Upper City is a downplayed version of a military/law enforcement dictactorship, since the Security Services--particularly the Head of department, Mr. Black--seems to hold all the regulatory power without having to answer to anyone. As the de facto leader of Uppoer City, Mr. Black imposes a harsh curfew on the area (a policy known as the Rule of Black) and keeps most of the city's anti-fog crystals in the possession of the Security Services, thus allowing them to control who will be granted its protection. Of course, many people aren't happy with this rule and some have formed a Resistance to overthrow Black. Black himself is actually well-intentioned, and he does genuinely wish to protect the City from the fog. Unfotunately, his pride and stubbornness means that he rarely listens to other people's suggestions, even when his own decisions prove to be ineffective.
* DressedToDie: In the final part of the "Petrified Mystery" case, Olivia realises that the only way to restore Sophia from her petrification is to use a reverse lens on the Gorgon Camera--but this will turn her into a statue instead. She is more than willing to pay this price, but to prepare for this, she asks the player's character to help her find her most beautiful dress and accessories, so that she will become a beautiful masterpiece at her petrification.

* WellDoneSonGuy: Gender-inverted with Sophia. She's a famous jazz singer whose greatest wish is to be praised by her father—a church minister who did not approve of her dream to become an entertainer. She confesses to Carlos that all the awards and accolades she's won throughout her illustrious career had not satisfied her need to gain her father's favour.

* TheDictatorship: The Upper City is a downplayed version of a military/law enforcement dictactorship, since the Security Services seems to hold all the regulatory power without having to answer to anyone. The Head of Security Services, Mr. Black, imposes a curfew on the area and keeps most of the city's anti-fog crystals in the possession of the Security Services (a policy known as the Rule of Black), thus allowing them to control who will be granted its protection. Of course, many people aren't happy with this rule and some have formed a Resistance to overthrow Black. This is one of the rare cases where the protagonist in on the side of the dictactor's—since Mr. Black is a ReasonableAuthorityFigure and his harsh methods are actually necessary to keep the people safe from the fog.

* GoodIsNotNice: Mr. Black is a ReasonableAuthorityFigure who does everything he can to ensure that the citizens are kept safe from the fog, but he's also a stubborn and austere character who is quick to assume guilt in others and will relentlessly push his accusations on them if he has reasons to connect them to a crime. While he can be harsh in his pursuit of justice, however, he is willing to listen to his suspects' explanation for their behaviour/actions before making an arrest and let them go if they can provide enough evidence of their innocence.

* ThePowerOfLove: Discussed by an overjoyed Fabien when his beloved living doll Angelique retains her sentience even after [[spoiler:she gave up her soul to restore Anna's]]. He claims that this is due to the power of his love giving her true life, although Mr. Black thinks this was due to the effects of the fog's magic.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Mr. Black is the de facto leader of the Upper City and is takes it upon himself to ensure his citizens' safety, even if it means enforcing rigid restrictions on their activities that draws many people's ire. However, if an actual threat arises, he's willing to put himself in the front lines in order that no one else is endangered. At one point he also [[spoiler:gives Carlos some anti-fog crystals from his personal stash to create a weapon that will disarm the Dark Hunter, who had kidnapped Carlos's son.]]

* SteamPunk: Compared to the Main City, the Upper City seems to have a more dated technology, with the prominence of candle lights, oil lamps and typewriters used for day-to-day activities, and steam pipes can be seen in many of the locations. The resisdents' outfits also have a distinctly Victorian Era-esque flair compared to the more modern gear that the people living in the main City areas wear. Also, unlike the Main City, the Upper City lacks the more blatantly fantastical elements such as ghosts and monsters.

** The "Petrified Mystery" case from the "Statues' Silent Story" event features an artifact called Gorgon's Camera that can turn anything it takes a picture of into stone, including peope. [[spoiler:The sculptress, Olivia, uses the camera to turn her friend Sophia into a statue after arguing with her. Regretting what she's done, she reverses the camera's effects by changing the camera lens, but this turns ''her'' into a statue instead.]]

* EveryoneLovesBlondes: Sophia Haze is one of the few blondes among the game's LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacter and the most prominent one in the Upper City. She's also a very famous and popular Jazz Singer whom many men wants to date. [[spoiler:Even the aloof Mr. Black used to be attracted to her, and it is implied that he's still holding the torch for her even after she turned him down.]]